Syntactic parallelism. Antithesis. Types of gradation

"... the age of wisdom, the age of foolishness" is an antithesis.

Assigned features. Syntactic structures expressing the meaning of an­tithesis are quite various: a simple extended sentence, a composite sentence, a paragraph or even chain of paragraphs. The main lexical means of antithe­sis formation is antonyms (words opposite in meaning): danger - security, life - death, empty -occupied, to hurry - to go slow. However, the use of antonyms is not strictly obligatory. Antithesis may also be formed through situational confrontation of two notions expressed by non-antonymous words. For example:

Isabel's salary was high; Isabel's work was light. More examples:

It was the season of light, it was the season of darkness. I had walked into that reading-room a happy, healthy man. I crawled out a decrepit wreck.

Gilbert wears fine clothes while I go in rags.

While I am weak from hunger. Denis suffers from overeating.

GRADATION

This figure of inequality consists in arranging the utterance so that each subsequent component of it increases significance, importance or emotional tension of narration:

There was the boom, then instantly the shriek and burst. 1 am sorry. I am so very sorry. I am so extremely sorry.

Classification. Gradation which increases emotional tension of the ut­terance may be called emotional. Emotional gradation is created by syn­onymic words with emotive meanings:

nice - lovely - beautiful - fair - magnificent; surprised - astonished - astounded - struck - petrified - killed (figuratively). Gradation revealing the quantity of objects may be called quantitative: There were hundreds of houses, thousands of stairs, innumerable kitchens.

Syntactic parallelism

Syntactic parallelism, or parallel patterns can be analysed from (1) the structural viewpoint and (2) as regards the logical-semantic arrangement of the reiterated components (the latter - the semanti- cally complicated parallel patterns - are often treated by scholars as belonging to the category of lexical-syntactical stylistic devices).

Structurally, parallelism can be complete and incomplete, or partial. Complete parallelism should satisfy the following three requirements:

1. the members of repeated patterns should be equal

2. they should have identical syntactic functions

3. there should be identical word order in the patterns that are repeated [quoted from 179, p. 80].

e.g..the beauty which now and then men create out of chaos. The pictures thev paint, the music they compose, the books they write, and the lives thev lead. Of all these the richest in beauty is the beautiful life. (W.S.Maugham)

Depending on the position of the syntactically identical parts in parallel patterns, incomplete parallel constructions can be categorized into various figures, such as syntactic anaphora, syntactic epistrophe. syntactic framing.

In Boston they ask, How much does he know? In New York. • j p How much is he worth? In Philadelphia. Who were his parents? (M.Twain) [quoted from 179, p. 82] (syntactic anaphora)

• Some sav the world will end in fire.'^u Some sav in ice. (Syntactic epistrophe is combined here
42. Types of narration: the author’s speech, the characters speech, represented (half reported) speech

Scholars usually differentiate between either three or four major types of narrative: the author's narrative, the character's speech (which may take the form of either a dialogue or interior speech, and the so-called represented (reported/half-reported) speech, which is a fusion of the first two. [see 166; 167]. In the author's narrative the narrator always expresses, explicitly or implicitly, the author's point of view, his attitude to the events described.

We can differentiate between several types of the narrator's discourse. The first is termed auctorial (V.A.Maltzev), or authorial (D.Lodge). It is the narration told in the third person, by an impersonal narrator. This type of narrator is often called omniscient, i.e. "all-knowing". With the omniscient point of view (sometimes also referred to as panoramic), the narrator retains full and complete control over the narrative. He does not take part in the events described, being outside the world of narration.

The next type of the narrator's discourse is often termed limited omniscient. It is told in the third person, too, but the narrator limits his ability to penetrate the minds of the characters by selecting a single character to act as the centre of revelation. What the reader knows or sees of events is always restricted to what that character can know and see. The character chosen as a narrative centre, and often referred to through the use of a third-person pronoun as he or she, may be the protagonist (= the main character) or may be some other major character [ibid., p. 44]. This form of the author's speech plane is also called entrusted. The limited omniscient point of view of the entrusted narrative is often carried out in the first person. The writer, as it were, entrusts his central character with the task of telling the story, here the narrator's image is intertwined with the image of the author, "the true and actual creator of it all" [166, p. 100]. The limited omniscient point of view is often used by writers to create and sustain irony, because it can well show the disparity between what the central character thinks or knows and the true state of affairs. Furthermore, the I^х' person entrusted narrative might be either stylized or not [179, p. 154]. In the former case the narrator tells the story from his own name using his own manner of thinking, feeling and speaking (the popular ex­ample is J.D.Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye). Let us dwell upon the types of the first-person narrative in detail.

Unlike the auctorial omniscient narrator, the I-narrator is within the world of narration, but he may have different degrees of per­sonification. First, he can be impersonal, or anonymous, having no definite social or psychological characteristics and taking the role of a correspondent, an observer or just a witness of the events described. So first-person narratives are necessarily subjective: the narrator is free to speculate but he is limited in his access to information. The language of such a discourse is close to that of the auctorial narra­tive [179, p. 162]. This type of I-narrator is found, for example, in very many stories by W.S. Maugham. Second, the I-narrator can be personified, he thus combines two functions: that of a character of the story and that of the narrator. This leads to a greater degree of individualization and a greater illusion of reality, as well as a sense of immediacy and credibility. The personified narrator may take various roles. He may be the protagonist of the story which in this case often assumes the form of an autobiography or memoirs.
43. The narrative-compositional forms: narrative proper, description, argumentation

Narration about events (or narrative proper), description and argumentation; The narrative proper is dynamic, while description and argumentation are static compositional forms of the text. It is explained by the fact that an orderly account of events in a story is given in the narrative proper, special emphasis here being laid on predicates. Description is a static narrative-compositional form. It supplies the details of the appearance of people and things "populating" the book, of the place and time of action. So description is used to depict nature (landscape), premises (interior), appearance (portrait), and urban scenery (townscape). Landscapes, townscapes and descrip­tions of dwellings play a considerable role in the interpretation of the subject matter. They not only serve as a setting of the narrative and a means of creating an appropriate atmosphere (which arouses the reader's expectations and establishes some certain state of mind for events to come), but also as an indirect method of characterization of the personages, a powerful means of revealing the character and reinforcing or clarifying the themes of a novel or short story. Portrayal of hu­man appearances is no less but sometimes even more powerful as a means of characterization of the personage.

Argumentation, or expository writing, is a narrative-compositional form which was normal and most popular in the English prose of the 18-19 centuries. The author could appear on his own pages as a commentator and moralist, revealing directly his own thoughts, ideas, attitude to his characters and other matters he portrayed. In such digressions, he might not only explain and speculate about the characters' behaviour, but give his own considerations about moral, aesthetic, ethical, ideological and other issues.
44. Traditional and modern approaches to teaching English

Grammar-Translation. “This method emphasizes reading, writing, translation, and the conscious learning of grammatical rules. Its primary goal is to develop literary mastery of the second language. Memorization is the main learning strategy and students spend their class time talking about the language instead of talking in the language. The curriculum requires the memorization of paradigms, patterns, and vocabulary, with translation being used to test the acquired knowledge. Consequently, the role of L1 (that is, mother tongue or native language) is quite prominent”.

The Phonetic Method. This method emphasized “oral expression as the basis of instruction, stressing pronunciation, avoiding grammatical rule giving, and seeking to impart a practical mastery of language forms for use in-country; cultural information was also provided. The teacher would read a passage aloud, explaining unfamiliar words as students followed along. After discussing questions on the passage, students would paraphrase the story aloud. Next would come written answers to questions, phonetic work on new words, and ultimately recitation. Gestures, pictures, and interesting contexts were to be used in making applications of familiar material. Graded reading would come later.”

The Direct Method. “Adult L2 learners can learn a second language in essentially the same manner as a child. Therefore, if possible, the teacher should try to create a natural learning environment within the classroom. Instead of explicit grammar instruction, the major emphasis is on communicating. Classes are carried out totally in the second language with absolutely no reliance on the first language or on any form of translation. The expectation is that through question and answer dialogues, the second language will gradually be acquired. Problems have arisen with such an approach because adults do not in fact learn exactly like children, and they express the need for explicit instruction in grammar and other aspects of the second language” (O’Grady et al. 1993).

Teaching of receptive skills (listening and reading) rather than teaching of productive skills (speaking and writing) was encouraged as the first step. Contrastive analysis of the native language of the learner with the target language was done. Teachers were required to have a good knowledge of the phonetics of the language they teach, but they would use it to teach pronunciation and not phonetics. This method was indeed an extension of the Natural Method, with greater emphasis on and sophistication of knowledge of linguistics.

The Audiolingual Method. The audiolingual method in some sense represents a return to the direct method, as its main goal is to develop native-like speaking ability in its learners. It is an extension as well as a refinement of the Direct Method. Translation and reference to L1 are not permitted. Underlying this approach, however, is the notion that “L2 learning should be regarded as a mechanistic process of habit formation... Audiolingual learning comprises dialogue memorization and pattern drills, thus ensuring careful control of responses. None of the drills or patterns are to be explained, since knowledge of grammatical rules would only obstruct the mechanical formation of habits.”

“Just as the Direct Method was an extension of the Natural Method, so Audiolingualism had its theoretical roots in the Direct Method.” The Audiolingual method used exhaustively the linguistic structures identified in the descriptive analysis of the target language. It resulted in carefully prepared materials. It was skill oriented, with a practical emphasis on oracy. “It provided contextualized language practice in true-to-life situations including dialogue. It provided a wide variety of activities to help maintain interest, and it made extensive use of visuals. It arranged for abundant practice, although “the grammar-based Audiolingual approach moved cautiously from supposedly simple to more and more linguistically complex features, often without adequate consideration for what might be needed in everyday situations.”

Some of the things which led to the spread and success of this method in this century include: Greater allotment of time, smaller classes, greater emphasis on oral-aural practice which led to automatic production of sentences repeated or in the internalization of sentence structures through repetition and inductive generalization, the structural description and gradation of sentence and other linguistic utterances presented to the students for drill, contrastive analysis between the structures of the native and target languages, and careful preparation and presentation of learning materials based on all these.

Communicative Language Teaching. This approach argues that “merely knowing how to produce a grammatically correct sentence is not enough. A communicatively competent person must also know how to produce an appropriate, natural, and socially acceptable utterance in all contexts of communication. ‘Hey, buddy, you fix my car!’ is grammatically correct but not as effective in most social contexts as ‘Excuse me, sir, I was wondering whether I could have my car fixed today... (Communicative competence) includes having a grammatical knowledge of the system,... knowledge of the appropriateness of language use... (such as) sociocultural knowledge, paralinguistic (facial and gestural) and proxemic (spatial) knowledge, and sensitivity to the level of language use in certain situations and relationships.

Total Physical Response Approach. “It takes into consideration the silent period deemed necessary for some L2 learners. During the first phase of total physical response, students are not required to speak. Instead, they concentrate on obeying simple commands in the second language. These demands eventually become more complex. For example, Walk to the door becomes Stretch your head while you walk to the door at the back of the classroom. Students later become more actively involved, verbally and creatively. The objective of this approach is to connect physical activity with meaningful language use as a way of instilling concepts”.

Teaching vocabulary

One of the problems of vocabulary teaching is how to select what words to teach. Dictionaries for upper intermediate students frequently have 55,000 words or more - and there may be many meanings for a word – and they represent a small fraction of all the possible words in a language. We have to make sense of this huge list and reduce it to manageable proportions for our learners.

The words which are most commonly used are the ones we should teach first.The list the different things learners need to know about a word before we can say that they have learned it. These include: The meaning(s) of the word;

Its spoken and written forms;

What «word parts «it has(e.g., any prefix, suffix, and “root” form); Its grammatical behavior (e.g., its word class, typical grammatical patterns it occurs in); Its collocations;

Its register; What associations it has (e.g., words that are similar or opposite in meaning);What connotations it has; Its frequency. We need to make choices about how much we teach on a first presentation. For example with the word like,in addition to its sound and spelling we might choose to teach only one of its meanings, with one grammatical pattern (I like + singular or plural noun) and some associated vocabulary (I like football /cartoons; I can’t stand game shows). At a later date we can add other meanings such as to be similar to (I have a car like that) or add more grammatical patterns such as like + to + verb (I like to play tennis). The choices we make are influenced by factors such as frequency, usefulness for the classroom, and “learn ability” – how easy the item is to learn (and teach!). Another issue to consider is which vocabulary we want students to be able to use when they speak and write (their active vocabulary) and which we want them to be able to recognize and understand but not necessarily produce (passive vocabulary). Students often feel frustrated that they can understand more than they can produce, but explaining this issue of active versus passive knowledge as a normal part of learning can be reassuring. When you assign vocabulary lists to learn, why not include some passive vocabulary items and discuss with students which items they need to learn “for understanding” and which they need to learn really well so that they can use them. (But be sure that in practice or testing activities, students are required to remember and use only the active vocabulary productively). Additionally, even from the elementary level, it is important to include in vocabulary lessons not just single words, but also larger “chunks” such as collocations, phrases, or expressions, even whole sentences, as well as strategic vocabulary. By building up a stock of expressions as well as individual words, students can assemble the language they need to communicate more fluently. There is a definite advantage in getting students to do more than just repeat them. Tasks such as changing them to mean their opposites, making a noun an adjective, putting words together, etc. help to fix the words in the learners' minds. Presenting a new word: Realia. One way of presenting words is to bring the things they represent into the classroom - by bringing 'realia' into the room. Pictures

It can be board drawings, wall pictures and charts, flashcards, magazine pictures and any other non-technical visual representation. Teachers can illustrate concepts such as above and opposite just as easily as hats, coats, walking sticks, cars, smiles, frowns, etc. Mime, action and gesture

It is often impossible to explain the meaning of words and grammar either through the use of realia or in pictures. Actions, are probably better explained by mime. Concepts like running or smoking are easy to present in this way. Contrast 'empty' by contrasting it with 'full', 'cold' by contrasting it with 'hot'. Enumeration. We can say 'clothes' and explain this by enumerating or listing various items. The same is true of 'vegetable' or 'furniture'. Explanation Explaining the meaning of vocabulary items can be very difficult, especially at beginner and elementary levels. Translation. Is a quick and easy way to present the meaning of words but it is not without problems. In the first place it is not always easy to translate words, and, even where translation is possible, it may make it a bit too easy for students by discouraging them from interacting with the words.

Teaching grammar

Grammar is one of the more difficult aspects of language to teach well.Many people, including language teachers, hear the word "grammar" and think of a fixed set of word forms and rules of usage. They associate "good" grammar with the prestige forms of the language, such as those used in writing and in formal oral presentations, and "bad" or "no" grammar with the language used in everyday conversation or used by speakers of nonprestige forms.Language teachers who adopt this definition focus on grammar as a set of forms and rules. They teach grammar by explaining the forms and rules and then drilling students on them. This results in bored, disaffected students who can produce correct forms on exercises and tests, but consistently make errors when they try to use the language in context.Other language teachers, influenced by recent theoretical work on the difference between language learning and language acquisition, tend not to teach grammar at all. Believing that children acquire their first language without overt grammar instruction, they expect students to learn their second language the same way. They assume that students will absorb grammar rules as they hear, read, and use the language in communication activities. This approach does not allow students to use one of the major tools they have as learners: their active understanding of what grammar is and how it works in the language they already know. The model recognizes that overt grammar instruction helps students acquire the language more efficiently, but it incorporates grammar teaching and learning into the larger context of teaching students to use the language. Good presentation should be clear, efficient, lively and interesting, appropriate and productive. These can be fulfilled by many ways that are given to students by teacher. It is only up to teacher how he, she introduces the new grammatical item. Then students repeat and use this new item. Discovery techniques are possible ways where students are given examples of language and then asked to find out how they work, it means to discover the grammar rues. Discovery techniques are not just the teacher telling what the grammar is. Students are actually discovering information for themselves.There are various ways of doing practice techniques, which means that pupils do exercise through the techniques which get them to practice grammatical item. There will be mentioned four different types of oral practice and written practice too,which are described by J.Harmer. Drills are often done with the whole class, students are given sentence with a new grammatical item and they are asked for right repetition. It is practiced as long as it is necessary for students to be able to say this structure in a proper way. The aim of drill is to give students rapid practice in using a structural item. Advantage is that the teacher can correct any mistakes, can encouragepupils toconcentrate on difficulties. But this way is not very creative. Interaction activities are the ways of language practicing which are more meaningful and more enjoyable. Pupils often work together in pairs or in groups. They exchange information in the purposeful and interesting way. They are given some materials (text, picture, map) and asked for some tasks when they use the grammatical item that is introduced. Disadvantage should be that the teacher has no control over all students. He, she can’t be sure that all students understood the grammar. Involving the personality is the way when pupils do the exercise and at the same time talk about themselves. They are asked to discuss things that involve their personality and to use this subject matter as a focus for grammar practice. It is closely drill but in more funny and enjoyable way. It is more interesting than usual,because students are asked for speaking about themselves. Games are surely the most interesting and the most favourite way how to practice grammar. Games are very useful for grammar work. Students are given a new grammatical item through the game, which is exactly the most natural way especially for children.These were oral activities for practicing grammar. But there are some written activities too. Since grammar practice is often done through writing, it is very useful. These are fill-ins, written drills, word order, parallel writing. Generally speaking, students need to practice their grammar a lot, but it is only up to the teacher how they will do it. A good teacher should remember that students would do the tasks with pleasure not only as a necessity

Teaching speaking

The important thing is that there should be a task to complete and that the students want to complete it.

The goals of the Communicative

Approach technique are to allow

students to become communicatively competent, able to use the language

appropriate for a given social context and manage the process of negotiating meaning with interlocutors. Activities:

1. Discussion: To avoid lack of student interest and shy pupils, students need to be prepared to discuss classroom topics. Three techniques to organizing a

discussion: Put students in groups first. This will allow them to give their opinion in a less threatening environment.

Give students a chance to prepare ( Think-Pair-Share). Give studentstime to marshall their thoughts and come up with

arguments to support their case. Give students a task. They can be given a list of controversial topics and asked to score them from 0 (= very negative) to 5(positive).

2Picture Stories/Story Reconstruction

Students are given different parts of a picture story. They have to reconstruct the whole narrative even though individually they have seen only a small part of it. This is done because each member of the group has

seen a different picture; by talking about their pictures together the narrative emerges.

Stage 1: The class is divided into four groups: A, B, C, D. Stage 2: Each group is givenone picture and told to study it. Stage 3:

After a few minutes, the teacher takes the pictures back from the groups. Stage 4: The teacher makes new groups with one student from each of the original groups. Stage 5: T he students in the new groups have to try to reconstruct the story by discussing what they saw in each of their pictures. Stage 6:

The teacher then gets the different groups to tell their stories. The teacher then shows thestudents all the pictures.

3.Problem Solving Activity This activity encourages students to talk together to find a solution to a set of problems or tasks.

4. Role-plays. In role plays, students are asked to create the pretence of a real-life situation

in the classroom: students ‘simulate’ the real world

Activity: With your partner, make conversations for the situations. Use different ways of making suggestions.

Ex: You have a terrible cold. A My head is killing me! And my nose is running! B I think you should go to/If I were you I would go to bed with a hot drink. A That’s a good idea. I’ll go right now. B Oh, that would be great! Other scenarios: You have the evening free, and there’s nothing good on TV.

Your best friend is having a birthday party next week, and you don’t know what to give your friend as a present.

You’ve just got a job in Moscow, so you need to learn the Russian language and find out about Russian people and culture as quickly as possible.

5. Match -Up:In this activity, students are given information on individual cards. Each card has a “matching” card that contains missing information. The students circulate among their classmates to find their partners. Whenever possible, the students should be encouraged to give information about themselves or their cards rather than ask questions. They are not allowed to show their cards to anyone until they think that they have found their correct partners. As partners find each other, they should move to a designated area of the room. When all the students have paired up, the pairs take turns reading their

cards aloud. The class then approves or disapproves the matches. If any pairs are matched incorrectly, the class should work together to correct the matches. Communicative activities are those which exhibit the characteristics of: (Harmer).

Giving students a desire to communicate Providing a communicativepurpose/objective

Involving students in a varied use of languageFocusing on content not form Avoiding teacher intervention. When students are engaged in the communicative activity, teachers should not intervene by telling students they are making mistakes or insisting on accuracy. This would undermine the communicative purpose of the activity. It is best at the end of the activity for the teacher to then provide feedback on things observed during the exercise. Using authentic materials for real-life/practical communication.

Teaching reading

There are many reasons why getting students to read English texts is an reading important part of the teacher’s job. In the first place, many of them want to be able to read texts in English either for their careers, for study purposes or simply for pleasure. Anything we can do to make reading easier for them must be a good idea. Reading texts also provide good models for English writing, provide opportunities to study language: vocabulary, grammar, punctuation, and the way we construct sentences, paragraphs and texts. Lastly, good reading texts can introduce interesting topics, stimulate discussion, excite imaginative responses and be the springboard for well-rounded, fascinating lessons.

What kind of reading should students do?

Must be a balance between real English on the one hand and the students’ capabilities and interests on the other. There is some authentic written material which beginner students can understand to some degree: menus, timetables, signs and basic instructions, for example, and, where appropriate, we can use these. But for longer prose, we may want to offer our students texts which, while being like English, are nevertheless written or adapted especially for their level. The important thing is that such texts are as much like real English as possible.

The topics and types of reading text are worth considering too. A lot will depend on who the students are. If they are all business people, the teacher may well want to concentrate on business texts. If they are science students, reading scientific texts may be a priority. But if, as is often the case, they are a mixed group with differing interest and careers, a more varied diet is appropriate. Among the things the teacher might want them to read are magazine articles, letters, stories, menus, advertisements, reports, play extracts, recipes, instructions, poems, and reference material.

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